Growing our literary arts sector

Your Excellency Ngurah Swajaya, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia

Ms Claire Chiang, Chairperson of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and the AFCC Board of Advisors

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. Good evening. Thank you for joining us at the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) 2017.

AFCC as a platform for collaboration

2. Since its inauguration in 2011, the AFCC has been bringing together the community of professionals for children's literature in Asia. All of us here have a shared interest –  to create and discover innovative content for children's literature.

3. Over the next few days, the AFCC will provide you with many opportunities to network with likeminded individuals, and to discover resources for collaboration with one another. Collectively, we can create more engaging and educational content to inspire our children, and inculcate in them important values.

Importance of local content in children's literature

4. The AFCC's “country of focus” for this year is Indonesia. This is timely as Indonesia and Singapore are commemorating 50 years of bilateral relations. Our deepening collaboration covers diverse areas, such as youth, sports, as well as the arts, culture and literature. This Friday evening, the AFCC will be launching two books co-created by Singapore and Indonesian writers and illustrators.

5. Asia's rich and diverse culture is a source of inspiration for compelling stories. I believe we should encourage Asian content in children's literature for two reasons. First, children respond better to the values in stories with characters, places and daily settings that they are familiar with. Second, children identify better with stories that reflect our culture, which includes our traditions, habits and figures of speech. This could be why the #BuySingLit movement this year, which encouraged Singaporeans to appreciate and buy Singaporean literature, resulted in a boost in sales for homegrown bookshops. We should continue to grow the understanding and appreciation of Asian culture among children. The AFCC's efforts to support content development and publication through training and network-building will bring us closer to that goal.

Good translation makes stories accessible to wider audiences

6. In Singapore, we encourage our children to be bilingual, and to read avidly in their mother tongues and English. Translation is important in bringing stories with important cultural elements from different ethnic groups to a common platform.

7. Similarly, translation from English to native languages helps enrich the content and makes reading in native languages that much more interesting. The translation of native content to a lingua franca makes good stories accessible to more people.

8. This is why I was happy to hear that the Book Council has partnered Genting Singapore for a new AFCC Asian Children's Book Award. This award recognises not just achievements in writing and illustration, but also good translation. It will be presented this coming Friday as well.

Leveraging technologies to reach out to young audiences

9. As we grow our capability to develop content, we must remember that we are doing this for our audience, our young ones. In this digital age, young readers are spending a lot more time online. How can we get them to read more while they are online?

10. In Japan and China, “cellphone novels” are gaining popularity. These are stories written and transmitted via SMS. How might we similarly leverage social media to put out stories and content for children? This could be the next challenge, or opportunity, that the literary community must consider.

Growing literary arts sector

11. In Singapore, we recognise that literary excellence, community engagement and a dynamic ecosystem form the foundations of a thriving literary arts scene. Through funding from the National Arts Council, we will continue to grow the sector, and support our literary organisations and industry professionals.

12. Platforms like the AFCC add vibrancy to Singapore's literary scene, and grow the number of stories about Asia. When I last attended the AFCC in 2012, I presented the Scholastic Asian Book Award to three winning manuscripts. I am delighted to hear that these manuscripts have since been published. In fact, a total of nine books have been published through this Award since 2011.

13. This evening, I will be presenting awards to another three picture book writers. Their works were selected from over 130 entries submitted by authors and illustrators from 20 Asian countries, and Scholastic Asia will be publishing these three books too. Congratulations to the winners!

Conclusion

14. In closing, I would like to thank the organiser, the National Book Development Council of Singapore, for putting the Festival together. The organiser has gotten the support of many sponsors and partners, like the UNESCO Singapore National Commission, to make this event possible. Every one of us plays an important role in giving the best literature to our children, and to raise the profile of Asian literature.

15. Finally, I wish all of you an enjoyable time at the AFCC, and hope that it inspires you to create more moving, imaginative and compelling stories for our children. Thank you.